Memories of Snow

NaNoWriMo Day 10: Various Prompts (WC:2023)

Istijlál (Majesty), 8 Qudrat (Power), 173 BE - Thursday, November 9, 2016 AD about 9:50 PM Pacific Standard Time

The Importance of Words

Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist and Mark Robert Waldman, a communications expert wrote in Words Can Change Your Brain , “A single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.” Do you believe that by changing your words, you can change your life? What words do you choose to call yourself and to focus your energy on, and do you think they are signaling you who the-self-in-you is?1

By changing my words can I change my life? This is an interesting and thought provoking question. I know that repeating aloud the prayers revealed by the Manifestations of God a harmonic vibration is caused between the mind, body, and soul. Since the prayers of the Bab and Bahau'llah are sacred words which have an effect upon the individual then I suppose that positive or negative words the mind repeats can also affect a person's life and change it for either the better or worse.

What words do I choose to call myself and focus my energy on? For the majority of my life I have thought of myself as worthless. There have been times when I referred to myself as a "stupid bitch". As a results I have focused on negative emotions and the belief that I am incapable of doing anything worthwhile. This has increased my fear that I will succeed at something and prove these words true to the world. This has caused me to procrastinate as much as possible and hold back in the expression of my talents.

Do I think these words signal to me who the-self-in-me is? These words reveal or signal who I think I am, but I'm not sure they signal the-self-in-me because they are negative. A person is a combination of both positive (spiritual) qualities and negative (material qualities) by focusing on the negative I arrest the development of the positive qualities that I possess. This prevents me from achieving my full potential and developing my spiritual attributes. Consequentially if I change the words I use to refer to myself then I change my concept of self and begin to develop my spiritual attributes which will accompany my soul into the next life after my body dies.

Istijlál (Majesty), 8 Qudrat (Power), 173 BE - Thursday, November 10, 2016 AD about 12:52 PM Pacific Standard Time

Are Humans wired for music? Are we born with our sense of music? What gives mere tones such a powerful effect on our emotions?2

Music and the Human Soul

Are we humans wired for music? Yes! Music speaks to our souls. It carries us above the mundane worries of physical life into another plain of existence. Music can carry us either to heaven or to hell depending on the type of music and the way the chords are perceived by the human soul.

What give mere tones such a powerful effect on our emotions? Our soul or spirit. Human beings have two natures, the physical and the spiritual. Our spiritual nature can feel the tones and finds them either calming or distressing depending on the type of music the physical ears are listening to. Thus music, when used properly, can have a healing effect upon both the body and the soul.

Thoughts on the 2016 Presidential Election
And the Destiny of America

It's Thursday afternoon. I'm still attempting to catch up on writing because I spent the entire day on Tuesday at the election polls. I'm still upset that Trump won. Actually, frightened is a better word for the way I feel. The majority vote gave the election to Clinton and the electoral vote to Trump. I'm afraid of what will happen to Senior citizens like myself who live on Social Security and need Medicare for our medical insurance. I'm afraid for the young men who will have to fight in Trump's war against ISIS and other terrorist groups because we may not have the support of our allies.

I'm afraid that we (American's) will have to deal with a situation similar to what Germany had to deal with under Hitler. I'm afraid that Trump will build a wall between America and Mexico which will put the country deeper into debt because I'm sure Mexico isn't going to pay for a wall. I'm afraid Trump will deport or attempt to deport all aliens and not just the illegals. I know that I shouldn't be afraid because God had a reason for letting Trump get elected, but that knowledge doesn't seem to have an effect up my physical fears.

There is a lot Trump could do the destroy the freedoms that Americans have spent the last decades getting. I'm not a supporter of some of those freedoms, but that doesn't mean I want to see them taken away because that means that other freedoms will be removed as well. America is at a crossroads, at a fork in the road, one fork can lead to another World War while another can lead directly to world peace. I know there will eventually be world peace even though we go through another World War, it's just that a World War will lead to more destruction of the ecosystem and deaths.

Baha'u'llah tells us that we will eventually have planetary peace. 'Abd'l-Baha tells us we have a choice of how that peace is to come. World peace with either come through our ability to accept Baha'u'llah as the manifestation of God for this age and living by his laws or through the suffering of the entire human race after a long a difficulty process of war and destruction. Of course, we may have given up the chance for it to come easily and without the destruction that accompanies war. This may be reason Trump was elected.

Since we appear to be doomed to go through another World War, I need to put my fears behind me and pray for assistance to teach the Cause of God. Baha'u'llah is the prince of peace, He is the Lord Returned in the Glory of the Father, He is the promised one of God and of all religions of the past. Instead of worrying about what will happen, I need to say the Prayer for America everyday. America has a great destiny and what is happening in it today can only lead to the fulfilling of that destiny.

After writing this part of today's entry, I feel better. I'm not afraid anymore because I know that I can depend on God and Baha'u'llah to get America and the world through the crisis that the world is going through at present while will increase over the next four years. I have to place my entire trust in God's Holy Word as Revealed through Baha'u'llah and The Bab, the twin prophets (manifestations) for the age of human maturity.

About 4:33 PM Pacific Standard Time

Questions about the human race

What have human beings become? Did war make us evil or did it just activate an evil lurking inside us? Are we guilty of making permanent decisions based on temporary feelings?3

What have human beings become? Human beings are in the process of maturing. We are moving from adolescence into adulthood. We are going through the process of maturity moving from the adolescent stage into the stage of maturity. In doing this we are learning that the concepts of our childhood are no longer advantageous to our survival as a species.

Does war make us evil or does it activate an evil lurking inside us? Neither. Humans have two natures. One nature is spiritual and one is physical. War pushes our physical nature into survival mode so that we ignore our spiritual nature which is the development of our soul so that the soul can advance through all the worlds of God. The wars going on now are part of the process of human evolution. We fight because we are afraid, because we are hungry, and because we fear other human beings. These wars we are experiencing in the early twenty-first century are part of the childhood experience of the human race. They will pass into history and peace will finally come.

Are we guilty of making permanent decisions based on temporary feelings? Yes. This condition will pass when the race matures enough to understand that adults control and master their emotions. The decisions we are making now are based on childish concepts and emotions that we have to learn to overcome before the race can mature enough to get along with itself.

Evening Thoughts

It's about sunset. I'm growing tired. I need to get some more rest, but I hate to take a nap until I finish at least 1,667 words. I've been unusually tired since I did the election polls on Tuesday, so perhaps it will pass by the time Saturday or Sunday comes. I should get more exercise which would help me from being so tired. It's difficult for me to exercise because it's so boring. I also get up too late to exercise and still get anything accomplished.

All right, those are just excuses. No matter how late I get up, I need to start going for a walk. I think a morning walk would make me feel better. It would help me lose weight which is part of the reason I'm so tired. I think the biggest reason I haven't been exercising lately is depression. I've been depressed for some time now, but I don't know why. Perhaps part of the problem is that I'm not attempting to focus on the spiritual when I go to bed at night. I tend to fantasy about stuff that isn't important. I'm not sure how to overcome this.

Perhaps if I attempted the long healing prayer at night before going to sleep. That might help my depression. I'm tired of being depressed. I'm tired of feeling tired which is a results of feeling depressed. I worry about things that it turns out I didn't need to worry about. Worry disrupts my muse. Worry causes me to focus on other things except the teaching of Baha'u'llah. I'm a Baha'I and I don't feel as if I'm living a Baha'I life.

I don't know why I feel so tired. As I wrote it could be because I worked the election polls all day on Tuesday. I don't think I'll do that anymore. I know there are people older than I am working the polls. They don't seem to have as difficult a time after its over then I have, but they could and I just don't know it. The problem could also be my health, maybe I'm not as healthy as I think I am. Maybe I have more health problems then I want to admit. Maybe Faye is right and I should be acting like I'm 69 years old instead of whatever age I'm acting.

The sun is setting
In the west day is dying
The night approaches

Am I afraid I'm going to die without accomplishing everything I want to? Am I afraid I'm going to die without leaving behind a legacy? Am I afraid I'm going to die because I'm afraid of death? Am I afraid I'm going to die because I haven't been living or acting as a Baha'I? Those are questions I can't answer right now. I hope I can answer them soon, but right now all I want to do is cry.

Why do I want to cry? Do I want to cry because I'm afraid of death? Do I want to cry because I know that I haven't been a good Baha'I? Do I want to cry because I feel guilty about something.? I'm not sure that I can answer these questions right now either. Maybe I should try a fifteen or twenty minute free write using some of those questions.

Footnotes
1  Blog City prompt for Tuesday, November 8, 2016.
2  The Blogger Circle of Friends prompt for Wednesday, November 9, 2016.
3  The Blog City prompt for Friday, November 4, 2016